Home, yard, or garden tool rack



y 17, 1956 c. o. LARSON HOME, YARD OR GARDEN TOOL RACK Filed Nov. 21,1952 IN V EN TOR. @07 2; fill 47 .5%

United States Patent HOME, YARD, R GARDEN TOOL RACK Charles 0. Larson,Sterling, Iii.

Application November 21, 1952, Serial No. 321,855

3 Elaims. (Cl. 211-87) The present invention relates to an improved toolholder or rack and more particularly to the type of tool holder having aplurality of supporting hooks removably and slidably mounted on achannel or rail member so that the hooks can be adjusted to accommodatevarious sizes and numbers of tools.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel tool holder ofthe above general type wherein the channel member is provided withflanges adapted to retain the bases of hook members freely andadjustably disposed therein, which flanges are notched and which basesare shaped so that they may be removed from the channel by way of thenotches, then turned to orient the hooks in different positions and thenagain inserted within the channel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tool holder of theabove described type having a novel arrangement and formation of thehook members whereby tools of various sizes and shapes may be placed onand removed from certain hooks of the holder without interfering withother hooks or other articles suspended on the holder.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel channel or railmember for a tool holder of the above described type which channelmember may be secured to a wall or other supporting surface by passingscrews through apertures in a web portion of the channel member andwhich web portion is formed so that the bases of the hooks may slidefreely past the heads of the screws.

Still another object of this invention is to provide hook members withnovel bases which may be easily clipped over the flanges of a channel orrail member to securely retain the hooks thereon while at the same timeproviding a snug fit to provide a relatively rigid supporting hook.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective View showing a tool holder which embodies thefeatures of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section taken along line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a broken front elevational view showing a pair of the novelchannel members disposed in end to end relationship with the notchesformed substantially half in each of the members;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the method of insertingthe bases of the hooks within the channel member;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing another novel feature of thisinvention; and

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 in Fig. 5.

Referring more specifically to the drawings wherein like parts aredesignated by the samenumerals throughout the various figures, a toolholder 10 embodying certain features of this invention is shown in Fig.l. The holder 10 includes an elongated channel member or rail 12preferably formed from sheet metal. As shown in Fig.

2, the channel member has a central fiat web portion 14 which is bentoutwardly to form a first set of flanges as at 16 and 18. The portionsor flanges 16 and 18 of the web merge with portions 20 and 22 whichlatter web portions or second set of flanges are disposed substantiallyparallel to the central web 14. Curved flanges 24 and 26 extendoutwardly from the flat portions 20 and 22 respectively. The flanges 24and 26 are curved so that they terminate in hook portions 28 and 30which extend inwardly toward each other. These hook portions along withthe flat portions 20 and 22 provide guideways for receiving andretaining the bases of hook members as hereinbelow described.

The channel member 12 is secured to a wall 32 or other supportingsurface by means of screws 34 inserted through apertures 35 in the web14 and screwed into the wall. It should be noted that because of theparticular cross sectional configuration of the channel member 12, theweb 14 is offset from the hook base receiving guideways so that theheads of the screws 34 will not interfere with the hook members as theyslide along the guideways during assembly or disassembly of the holder.

The tool holder is provided with a plurality of hook or articlesupporting members 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 and 46. Each of these articlesupporting members is provided with a base member 48. As shown in Fig.1, the base members 48 are triangular in shape and formed with roundedcorners 49. Preferably the bases are equilateral triangles so that theymay be turned to any position and placed within the channel or railmember 12 as more fully hereinafter described.

Referring specifically to Fig. 2, the manner of connecting the hook 40to the base 48 is illustrated. Since all of the hooks are connected inthe same manner, only the hook or article supporting member 40 need bedescribed in detail. The sheet material base 48 is provided with anoutwardly deformed portion 59 having a central aperture 52. By thisformation of the base a countersunk conical seat 54 is provided in theinner surface of the base. The inner end of the hook 48 is insertedthrough the aperture 52 and then upset to provide an enlarged conicalhead 56 which fits within the seat. 54. Preferably a collar 58 has beenpreviously formed on the shank of the hook either by extruding the shankof the hook or by welding a separate piece thereto. The collar 58 islocated so that the base 48 will be held securely between the head 56and the collar 58 to prevent the hook from turning relative to the base.

It should be noted that the hook is secured to the base at a pointoffset from the center thereof so that the positions of the variousbooks relative to each other may be varied merely by removing the hooksfrom the channel member and then reassembling them after rotating themdegrees. By this structure it is seen that the triangular bases willcause the hooks to be positioned in diiferent horizontal planes. Thepreferred arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 1, wherein the bases 48have been positioned so that the hooks 40 and 42 are positioned in ahorizontal plane above the plane of the books 36, 38, 44 and 46. Thisarrangement enables a tool having a wide head, such as a sponge mop 60to be suspended between the higher hooks without interfering with thelower books or the articles suspended therefrom.

It should further be noted that the conical head 56 of the hooks aresubstantially flush with the inner surface of the bases 48. Thisstructure enables the hooks to be moved along the guideways of thechannel member without interfering with the securing screws 34.

The books terminate at their outer free ends in upturned portions 62,64, 66, 68, 70 and 72 respectively for preventing articles fromaccidentally sliding off of the hooks. The upturned portions 62 and 64of the advertical planes.

jacent hooks 36 and 38 are further bent so that they diverge withrespect to each other. Various tools having eye screws 74 secured totheir handles 76 may be suspended from the hooks 36 and 38 by passingthe eye screws 74 over the free upturned ends of the hooks. Varioussizes and shapes of tools may be suspended in this manner and because ofthe diverging relationship of the end portions 62 and 64 the tools maybe placed on or removed from one of the hooks with a minimum ofinterference with a tool suspended from the other hook. Preferably theupturned portions 70 and 72 of the adiacent hooks 44 and 46 are alsoarranged so that they diverge from one another.

As shown in Fig. 1 the hooks 40 and 42 are preferably constructed withlonger shanks than the remaining books. The upturned portions 66 and 68of the hooks 40 and 42 are illustrated as being disposed in parallelBecause of their longer lengths, one or more tools having relativelybroad heads such as the sponge mop 60, may be suspended between thehooks 40 and 42. Furthermore, other tools having supporting eye screwssimilar to the screws 74 may be suspended on the hooks 40 and 42 with aminimum of interference with tools or articles suspended from the otherhooks. If desired, the upturned portions 66 and 68 may be arranged indiverging relationship in a manner similar to that of the upturnedportion of the shorter hooks.

In Fig. 4 the manner of assembling the hooks with the channel member isshown. One edge of the base 48 is first inserted within the guidewayformed by the flange 24 and then the hook is pivoted downwardly so thatthe lower corner of the triangular base 48 passes through a notch 78 cutout of the flange 26. As shown best in Fig. 1 the notch 78 is formed sothat it is only slightly larger than the corner of the triangular base48 and has a width less than the length of a side of the base. After thebase is fully assembled within the channel member the hook is movedalong the guideways to the desired position. A second notch 80 isprovided in the upper flange 24 of the channel member so that thetriangular bases may be assembled within the channel member when thebases are oriented as are the bases of hooks 36 and 38 shown in Fig. 1.Since the corners of the bases are each diametrically opposite a midportion of an opposite edge of the bases and since the notches have awidth less than the length of said edges, the hooks cannot be removeduntil the corner of their bases become aligned with a notch.

In order to prevent the hooks from sliding out of the ends of thechannel member a pair of lugs 82 and 84 are provided. These lugs may beformed integral with the channel member and they extend outwardly adistance sufficient to engage the bases 48 of the hooks.

It should be clear that the channel member may be constructed of variouslengths and that varying numbers of hooks may be used. When it isdesired to use a relatively large number of hooks and a long channelmember, it has been found convenient to construct the channel member intwo or more sections. This structure is illustrated in Fig. 3 where twochannel members or rails 86 and 88 are disposed in end to end abuttingrelationship. These channel members have a cross sectional shape whichis substantially identical to that of the channel member 12 describedabove as indicated by the identical reference numerals. The channelmembers 86 and 88 are provided with notches 90 and 92 which are shapedsimilar to and are for the same purposes as the notches 78 and 80described above. However, it should be noted that substantially half ofeach of the notches 90 and 92 is formed in the flanges 24 and 26 of thechannel 86 and half in the flanges 24 and 26 of the channel 88. Thuswhen the channel members are assembled as shown in Fig. 3 the fullnotches are provided. This structure has the advantage over forming thecomplete notches in the 4 I mid portion of the channel member, as shownin Fig. 1. in that it is easier and less expensive to cut away an endportion of the flanges 24 and 26 than a mid portion thereof.Furthermore, when a pair of channel member: as shown in Fig. 3 are usedtogether only one pair of notches is required rather than two pairs aswould be the case if two channel members having notches formed in themanner illustrated in Fig. 1 were to be used.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a tool holder 94 which embodies anotherform of this invention. The holder 94 comprises a channel member 96which is constructed with a cross sectional shape substantiallyidentical to the channel member 12 as indicated by the identicalreference numerals applied to like parts. However, the notches 78 andmay be omitted from the channel member 94.

The tool holder 94 includes a hook or article supporting member having ashank 98 attached to a base 100. The base 100 is preferably formed froma flat piece of resilient sheet material, such as metal which has itsupper edge bent to provide a curved flange 102 adapted loosely to fitover and slide along the outer surface of the flange 24 of the channelmember 94. The opposite or lower edge of the base 100 is also providedwith a curved flange 104. As is shown best in Fig. 6, the curved flange102 extends around the flange 24 until its terminal edge 106 is disposedalong the flat portion 20 of the channel member. This structureeffectively prevents the base 100 from being pulled off the channelmember under the load of a tool or other article suspended from theshank 98. The curved flange 104 is slightly shorter than the flange 102so that the terminal edge 108 of the flange 104 is slightly spaced fromthe flat portion 22 of the channel member. Thus it is seen that with thebase in the assembled position shown in Fig. 6, the curved flange 104only partially surrounds the flange 26. This enables the flange 104 ofthe resilient base to be snapped over the flange 26 of the channelmember. Since a load placed on the shank 98 forces the lower portion ofthe base 100 against the channel member, the flange 104 need not have asgreat a holding power as the upper flange 102. However, it is desirablethat the lower flange 104 should have sufficient holding power to securethe base against accidental removal from the channel member.

In making the base 100, it has been found generally necessary to formeach of the curved flanges 102 and 104 with a slightly greater radiusthan the radii of the curved portion of the flanges 24 and 26. It istherefore necessary to space the flanges 102 and 104 farther apart thanthe flanges 24 and 26 in order that the terminal edge 108 may bepositioned as described above. As clearly shown in Fig. 6 this structureresults in the inner surfaces of the mid-portion of the flanges 104being spaced apart a greater distance than the outer surfaces of thecurved mid portions of the flanges 24 and 26 so that there wouldnormally be considerable play or looseness between the base 100 and thechannel member. However, in accordance with a feature of this inventionthis normal looseness is eliminated by providing the flange 104 with aninwardly extending protuberance or bead 110 which extends intoengagement with the flange 26 of the channel member. Preferably, thebead 110 is located so that it engages the opposite side of the curvedportion of the flange 26 from the side engaged by the terminal edgeportion 108 in order to securely hold the channel member therebetween.The head 110 may be provided by deforming the material of the flange104, as shown, or by building up the bead as by welding or in any othersuitable manner.

The shank 98 may either be straight, as shown, or it may have its outerend turned up in a manner similar to the shanks of the hook membersshown in Fig. l. The shank 98 is assembled with the base 100 byinserting it through an aperture 112 in the base. The aperture 112 isrectangular or of some other non-circular shape and the shank 98 isprovided adjacent its inner end with an enlarged portion 114 ofrectangular cross section, which portion is adapted to fit snugly withinthe aperture so that the shank cannot turn relative to the base.Preferably the rectangular portion 114 is of substantially the samedimensions as the aperture so that it may be force fitted within theaperture to provide a rigid connection.

The inner end of the shank terminates in an enlarged head 116 whichprevents the shank from being pulled out of the aperture. It should benoted that the offset bottom web portion 14 of the channel memberprovides clearance between the head 116 of the shank 98 and the head ofthe fastening screw 34 so that the hook member may be moved along thechannel to any desired position.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described herein, it is obvious that many changes may be made in thestructural details of the improved tool or article holder withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An article holding device comprising a rail including an elongatedsubstantially flat web portion, a plurality of apertures formed in saidweb portion and adapted to receive therethrough means to fasten said webportion to a support surface, the longitudinally extending edges of saidweb portion being substantially parallel, a first longitudinallyextending flange formed on each edge of said web portion and extendingat an angle therewith, the outer edge of each of said flanges havingformed thereon a pair of spaced apart retaining flanges, a base memberslidably disposed within said retaining flanges, said rail having alength sufl'icient to receive a plurality of said base members, saidbase member being shaped substantially as an equilateral triangle andhaving three edges and three corners joining said edges, the distancebetween each of said corners and the mid portion of the opposite side ofsaid base member being greater than the distance between the free edgesof said retaining flanges, a shank member mounted on said base memberand extending outwardly therefrom, and a hook portion formed on the endof said shank member, the outermost of each of said retaining flangeshaving a notch therein through which one of said corners may pass formounting said base member within said retaining flanges whereby saidbase member may be mounted in various positions upon said rail with saidhook portion oriented in diiferent positions.

2. An article holding device as set forth in claim 1, wherein stop meansis provided adjacent each end of said rail to retain said base member onsaid rail.

3. An article holding device as set forth in claim 1, wherein each notchis positioned intermediate the ends of the rail and has a width lessthan the length of each edge so that only a corner of the base membermay pass therethrough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,717,156 Johansson June 11, 1929 1,786,038 Swanson Dec. 23, 19301,807,356 Vance May 26, 1931 1,844,096 Levene Feb. 9, 1932 2,141,968Banker Dec. 27, 1938 2,480,260 Pittinger Aug. 30, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS10,524 Great Britain May 8, 1903

